The launch did not go as well as I wanted it to go. Our rocket went really low. We were the first group and I was the rocket launcher and placer. The countdown master yelled “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one” and instead of the rocket shooting up so high we could not see it, it went sixty seven feet. That was very disappointing because our last launch, our rocket went one hundred ninety eight feet. 

I think that we should have stayed with the old shape of our fins and change the body to a thin body instead. I think this because I think that maybe our fins had to much weight and we also made them a little big. I also think that we added to much tape because my group wanted to make sure that the nose cone would stay on, we put a little too much tape. There were a couple little error that I think we could have fixed but too late now. 

I am happy though that we could agree on a lot and we tried to combine everyone’s ideas.I think that we could have done so much better though, but I do think that we tried to change it and we worked hard. It just did not work. 

My group has built our second rocket and I was so excited for the launch and I was very confident that we would win. This launch should possibly be better than the first launch, considering a new design , bit it can worse. My group worked hard on the rocket design and how we built it.

 We changed the fin shape from a parallelogram to a triangle and we stayed with a thick body. I feel we should not have changed the fin shape because the last launch went so well that we should have kept the body so there could be a possibility that we do that well again. Besides that it went well. We thought think a thick body will hold more air like it did the first time. My group does not have a ton of patients so sometimes it was hard to work together. But our rocket looked great at the end.The building went fine but our nose cone is a little oddly shaped. 

Though I still think that we should not have changed so much.  I am still proud of my group because we tried our best to do a new and good design. I think that we could do better but I am still counting on it.

Today was launch day and I was really nervous that my rocket would not leave the launching machine. My group and I all had job during the launch. Two kids, including me were air pumpers and another kid placed the rocket and the last kid was the countdown master and he also retrieved the rocket. We were all so scared or at least I was and wanted to do our jobs right. 

The machine we placed the rocket on was basically a big wooden box that has a pipe inside. Then we put the top on and then we put the launching pipe on. Then the air pumpers (Me and another one of my group members) pump until the needle was at fifty. Next the rocket was placed the rocket on the pipe and the countdown master (Aaron) yelled “ Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,  four, three, two, one.” The rocket placer and retriever (Greta) pressed the launch button and the rocket blasted off into the sky. It went so high I had trouble seeing it. 

Next I was a clinometer reader which shows the angle of the rocket. Then we converted the angle of the rocket into meters and then I converted the meters into feet. My group came in second and the feet my group’s rocket went was 139.5 feet. I th8nk our design should stay the same for the next launch because it went so well. I am really happy with the results of the height and I am very proud of myself and my group.

For the past few weeks I have been doing rocketry with my group the Astros. It has been a big process that starts with brainstorming and at the end launching.There is a lot in the middle of that and it is long but fun.  When you think of rocketry, you will probably think that it is all fun and you get everything your way, you are absolutely wrong. The first step in rocketry is brainstorming. During the first step we have to make a google doc and write down facts such as Newton’s Three Laws,Lift, Drag  Thrust and Weight, Aerodynamics and Friction. We also put images and diagrams of launches, space shuttles and rockets. This lead to an inspiration board. 

Finally we are ready to build our rockets. First we molded a body. We had a choice between a thick or thin body, my group choice the thick body because we think it will hold more air to make the rocket go higher. Next what we did was we made fins for the rocket, we did parallelograms for fins and we did three fins. We chose the number three because it will stabilize the rocket without much weight. The last step to building the rocket is the nose cone and it has to be very pointy. Without the nose cone the rocket will not get off the launch pad, so what we did is we hot glued the nose cone on the body and then we taped it on.

We are always careful about the weight, balance and anything that will bring the rocket  down. We had to be cautious that the body is not too tight or lose because it won’t slip on to the pipe that you place the rocket on to launch with ease, if it is to lose and it slips on with ease air will come out the bottom and it won’t fly. If there is too much weight well then of course it won’t go high, also if there is not balance it won’t fly either.

You always have to be careful about all of these hazards and I hope my groups knowledge helps my group’s rocket go the highest. You also have a lot of compromising with your group to do and it is a lot of arguing in my opinion, but then you finally find a way to compromise your rocket turns out the way everyone wants it and it has everyone’s ideas and it really looks amazing. The rocket launch is going to be really cool and I am one hundred percent sure that my group is going to have a great time.